According to a new report published by Oxfam International, on Monday, 28th January, 2019, the current 26 World Billionaires are as wealthy as 3.8 billion World Poorest People.
This statement released on Monday is a need for the yearly World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, which brings together some of the wealthiest and most influential people on Earth.
It is a report of 106-page meant to call attention to the growing gap between rich and poor.
The Oxford International says that the combined fortunes of the world’s 26 richest individuals reached $1.4 trillion last year, ironically its the same the same amount as the total wealth of the 3.8 billion poorest people.
According to this same report, the number of billionaires have increased to 2,208, doubling the number since the global financial crisis which happened ten years ago.
To mention few, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos; Microsoft’s Bill Gates; Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, are collectively worth $357 billion.
In many countries, a decent education or quality healthcare has become a luxury only the rich can afford. Every day, 10,000 people die because they lack access to affordable healthcare.”
– Oxfam
Girls are pulled out of school first when the money isn’t available to pay fees, and women clock up hours of unpaid work looking after sick relatives when healthcare systems fail,” the organization said, estimating that “if all the unpaid care work carried out by women across the globe was done by a single company, it would have an annual turnover of $10 trillion.
– Oxfam
This problem is felt more in places like India, the world’s fastest growing major economy. The country has one of the world’s lowest female labor participation rates.
